had done. They seemed more concerned about being woken at night and me not being around in time for meals. Mind you it was only a temporary stay and to be frank I had been there almost a year. I felt it was time to move on and look for a new place with more independence.
Meanwhile my work selling medical equipment was going well and Shelley was enjoying her trips away. At times we stayed in some rather nice hotels. We also had our fair share of some rather unusual establishments.
I remember once staying at The Farness Hotel in Thanet. I had rather taken to staying there. It was situated on the cliff tops by the North Foreland lighthouse near Broadstairs. My late parents lived in Thanet when they first met and I had many happy holidays in my childhood staying with my grandparents at St Peters. When my father met my mother he was so in love that he cycled from Walton on Thames to Broadstairs (over 120 miles each way) most weekends. How’s that for true love?
The hotel was run by a person called Lee Silcox whom I had known when living at Hythe in Kent. He was a great character full of life and could engage in long Gin and Tonic sessions when given the right opportunity. I recall on several occasions still being at the bar when the milkman was delivering the early morning milk. At any opportunity I would always find an excuse to work the Thanet patch and stay at the hotel. I always had the same room overlooking the channel. Shelley was always made welcome and I became part of the family. Another advantage was that Lee always wrote my bills out by hand to suit my requirements re my company expenses. What days they were!
On one occasion I stayed up rather too late and made my way to bed about 2am. Lee had locked up and gone home to his house up the road. I managed to get to my room with Shelley helping me and got undressed and climbed into bed. About an hour later I decided I needed to spend a penny and went to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later I realised I had gone out of my room into the hall and the door had closed behind me. There I was naked with Shelley by my feet looking up in the dark in a daze wondering what to do.
After a while I found the store room and linen cupboard combined and decided it would be best to climb into the linen basket and go to sleep as it was cold and the middle of winter. Shelley joined me – the next thing we knew was a loud gruff voice asking what had happened. It was Kay the housekeeper; she was a wonderful kind lady who did the work more out of pleasure than anything else. Having been given a towel to attire my-self she kindly opened the bedroom door and Shelley and myself closed it behind us. Needless to say the hotel dined out on this story for many years. More about the Fairness later!
Life in Shoreham was becoming a real enjoyment and I was spending a lot of time with several members of the Lifeboat Crew. Every Sunday morning we all met down the boathouse for a chat and to do work. This was then followed by a visit to The Lighthouse Club which was situated near the boathouse. It was a sort of beach club with a nice bar. I think the crew used it because they got their drinks cheaper and sometimes ones drinking hours were extended. Frankly it was not my favourite place and I preferred using the Royal Sovereign Pub in Shoreham. As it happened several years later the son of the owner of the Lighthouse club went a little over the top and murdered his parents there – it of course made national news!
The Royal Sovereign became the crew’s watering hole. It was a small pub tucked down a side street and there was a car park next to it so if we had a shout for the lifeboat we could make our way down there quickly. The pub was run by Ron and Judy Binstead – what a magic
Meanwhile my work selling medical equipment was going well and Shelley was enjoying her trips away. At times we stayed in some rather nice hotels. We also had our fair share of some rather unusual establishments.
I remember once staying at The Farness Hotel in Thanet. I had rather taken to staying there. It was situated on the cliff tops by the North Foreland lighthouse near Broadstairs. My late parents lived in Thanet when they first met and I had many happy holidays in my childhood staying with my grandparents at St Peters. When my father met my mother he was so in love that he cycled from Walton on Thames to Broadstairs (over 120 miles each way) most weekends. How’s that for true love?
The hotel was run by a person called Lee Silcox whom I had known when living at Hythe in Kent. He was a great character full of life and could engage in long Gin and Tonic sessions when given the right opportunity. I recall on several occasions still being at the bar when the milkman was delivering the early morning milk. At any opportunity I would always find an excuse to work the Thanet patch and stay at the hotel. I always had the same room overlooking the channel. Shelley was always made welcome and I became part of the family. Another advantage was that Lee always wrote my bills out by hand to suit my requirements re my company expenses. What days they were!
On one occasion I stayed up rather too late and made my way to bed about 2am. Lee had locked up and gone home to his house up the road. I managed to get to my room with Shelley helping me and got undressed and climbed into bed. About an hour later I decided I needed to spend a penny and went to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later I realised I had gone out of my room into the hall and the door had closed behind me. There I was naked with Shelley by my feet looking up in the dark in a daze wondering what to do.
After a while I found the store room and linen cupboard combined and decided it would be best to climb into the linen basket and go to sleep as it was cold and the middle of winter. Shelley joined me – the next thing we knew was a loud gruff voice asking what had happened. It was Kay the housekeeper; she was a wonderful kind lady who did the work more out of pleasure than anything else. Having been given a towel to attire my-self she kindly opened the bedroom door and Shelley and myself closed it behind us. Needless to say the hotel dined out on this story for many years. More about the Fairness later!
Life in Shoreham was becoming a real enjoyment and I was spending a lot of time with several members of the Lifeboat Crew. Every Sunday morning we all met down the boathouse for a chat and to do work. This was then followed by a visit to The Lighthouse Club which was situated near the boathouse. It was a sort of beach club with a nice bar. I think the crew used it because they got their drinks cheaper and sometimes ones drinking hours were extended. Frankly it was not my favourite place and I preferred using the Royal Sovereign Pub in Shoreham. As it happened several years later the son of the owner of the Lighthouse club went a little over the top and murdered his parents there – it of course made national news!
The Royal Sovereign became the crew’s watering hole. It was a small pub tucked down a side street and there was a car park next to it so if we had a shout for the lifeboat we could make our way down there quickly. The pub was run by Ron and Judy Binstead – what a magic
Similar Books
